The blade of hope

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by SoundDestiny

“Aa! Should I have started with your fingers instead of your arms? Or should I try removing....your nails?”

Wilfred laughed in amusement as he snapped Justy’s left arm.

His bones, broken with great force, break through the skin and stick out. A trickle of bright red blood trickles down, staining the black ground.

“......!”

Justy gritted his teeth and fought back the pain. He did not even let out a groan, which was a terrible sign of self-control.

He tried to resist, but his hands and feet were bound by countless tentacle-like arms. He also let go of his spear and rolled around on the ground, making it impossible for Justy’s mallet magic to work on Wilfred.

The only thing that can be moved is....his mouth.

“.... I will not bow down at this level of pain. You don’t seem to know the pride of a real knight, do you?　A knight does not scream for this kind of pain!”

Justy said the words to keep Wilfred’s attention for as long as possible.

From their conversation a while ago, Justy had sensed that Wilfred had a preoccupation with the idea of being a knight.

“Heh.... I don’t know how great a knight you are, but you know what? I’ll hurt you more if you say so.”

As expected, Wilfred glared at Justy with an abject scowl.

Wilfred’s awareness of Neferte, who is being held at a distance, has disappeared.

If he can buy time at this rate, Raidorl may be able to rescue Neferte in time.

“Oh yeah! you seem to have a lot of patience, so a broken bone won’t scare you off. Next time I’ll cut off your dominant arm. Don’t worry, I’ll stop the bleeding so you don’t die too soon!”

Wilfred held out one of his arms towards his feet, and a thick blade appeared, pushing the ground upwards.

“I made it by using earth magic to collect metal from the ground....I’m inexperienced, you know. It doesn’t make a pretty blade.”

“.... It’s in bad taste. You don’t like me very much, do you?”

Justy’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at the brown blade that had emerged from the ground.

The thick blade, forged by earth magic, is not a very smart shape. It’s like a rusty saw that’s been used too many times.

“Wouldn’t it hurt to be cut by this? It would take a long time, wouldn’t it? I’m really sorry that I couldn’t cut you all at once.”

“A low-life. If you’re going to do this, get on with it. If that’s the only way you can break my pride.”

“I can’t wait to see how long you can stay strong. Well then, let’s start....!”

“Gu...!”

The thick saw is placed on Justy’s right arm and moves back and forth in slow motion.

The jagged blade, like a beast’s tusk, cuts into Justy’s skin and muscle with a chilling sound that sends chills down his spine.

If it had been cut off by a sharp sword, it would not have hurt so much, but the poorly made saw wasted no time in widening the wound and cutting away the flesh of his arm.

The pain was unbearable, even for Justy’s mental strength, and he let out a roaring scream from the back of his throat, regardless of his will.

“Gu~tsu.... ga.... guuuuu!”

“Ahahahahahahahaha!　At last you’ve made your voice heard!　It’s such a nice scream!　It’s like an orchestra playing the best music ever!”

“Nu, Gu .. Uguaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“When this battle is over, shall we play like this, using human beings as instruments?　If I offer my performance as the finest music to Queen Osman, she will be very pleased. Ahahahahahahahahahaha!”

The “Loyal Knight” screaming with blood pouring from his arms, and the “Hundred-Handed Giant” torturing his captured enemies with his most amused face.

It’s a terrifying sight, as if hell has come to earth.

Will Justy be able to endure the torture to the end?

How far will he go to maintain his mental equilibrium while being subjected to the ugly games of the malicious Wilfred?

But such questions were meaningless.

The hair-raising playtime would come to an abrupt end.

“Uh .. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“He..?”

“.....!”

A high scream echoed through the deep forest.

It was Neferte, who was supposed to be bound, who let out a cry that sounded like the cry of a monster bird.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

“Your Highness, Neferte!”

Neferte’s arms and legs were flailing wildly as he tried to force his way out of his bonds.

In his attempt to escape from the dozens of arms that bound him, he looked like a giant wolf trying to tear off the chains around his body.

“Sir Justy! I’m coming to save you, just wait for me!”

Neferte comes shouting at him with a desperate look on his face, as if he is about to be eaten.

Exhausted from the long battle, Neferte should have been stunned in the arms of the enemy, but.... apparently came to his senses when he heard Justy’s screams as he was being tortured.

He brushed off Wilfred’s hand and was about to run to Justy.

“Heh...I’m surprised. I didn’t know he still had that much energy left.”

Wilfred stops the saw on Justy’s arm and murmurs in surprise.

He observes Neferte with interest, who had completely removed him from his consciousness, as he would no longer be able to resist.

“Kuh...what do you mean!”

It was not a development that Justy had hoped for.

Justy was willing to submit himself to torture in order to save Neferte by turning Wilfred’s attention to himself.

But this plan was to be undone by Neferte’s own actions.

“You.... let me go!!”

“He seems to be quite a worthy prince to torture, but ....he’s a bit of a distraction. Let me? make him quiet for a moment....”

“Haaa!”

“Wha..?!”

Neferte, flailing with all his might, finally shook off his right hand from its restraints.

Even Justy, who was as big as a rock, could not escape, but Neferte, who was half his size, ate through part of the cage with terrifying force.

“How long have you been touching me!! Let go of me, for God’s sake!”

Neferte took out a dagger that he had hidden in his pocket.

With a single edged dagger, he cuts off the dozens of arms holding him back and escapes from Wilfred’s hold.

The protective dagger, which he had worn even when he was lost at sea, saved his life.

“OK! This time ..!”

After escaping from custody, Neferte went to the place where Justy was being tortured.

A few metres away lies a large sword – the Mistilteinn.

“As if I let you!!”

“Ku...!!”

Wilfred quickly stretches out one of his arms and pulls the greatsword away from Neferte.

“That was really scary.....Are you sure you’re not a holy sword user?”

“No..If I’d been chosen as the Holy Sword, I’d have beaten you long ago.”

“Cheeky little bastard! Fine,....target change. I’m going to do everything I can to get rid of you! Then I can play with this knight!”

Wilfred reached out his countless hands and rained attacks on Neferte.

Arms that tried to strike, arms that tried to grab, arms that tried to claw....dozens and hundreds of arms attacked at once.

Earlier he had escaped with Justy’s help, but now Neferte was all alone.

He had escaped his captors, but the crisis was not over. The situation was still desperate.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaa!”

But.... Neferte is not the least bit intimidated.

Where was the look of despair on his face just now? It was as if he had entered the zone of his limit and was fighting back boldly with his dagger.

He sliced off the arm that struck him, flicked off the arm that grabbed him, and swatted away the arm that clawed at him.

His movement was remarkably different from before. The sharpness of the attack was much different. If it was only speed, it seemed to be more than twice as quick.

“His Highness Neferte....?”

“What kind of body does this....guy have? You were exhausted a minute ago!”

Justy and Wilfred were both looking at Neferte with bewilderment in their eyes, fascinated by his bravery.

It’s not just that he switched from a heavy sword to a light dagger, it’s that he fought like a changed man.

It’s as if the body was possessed by a being with supernatural powers, like a....dragon or a spirit.

“Could this phenomenon be ....?”

Justy’s mind was suddenly filled with revelations.

This overwhelming power, this presence that could change the battlefield all by itself. It was very similar to that of someone Justy knew well.

As if to affirm his imaginings, a pale blue aura emanates from the dagger Neferte holds in his hand.A fantastic aura, like a mist covering the surface of a lake, envelope Neferte’s body.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Neferte’s speed accelerates further. No, it’s not just his speed.

The misty aura that surrounded him reflected Neferte’s image in multiple layers, like a mirror, and began to play with the countless hands that attacked him as an alter ego.

“Can’t be.....Oh, right, That’s right!!”

After a moment of delay, Wilfred realised the answer and his voice became angry and shrill.

He threw down in a fit of rage, the great sword that he had just seized, the sword that should have been Mistilteinn.

“So that’s the one, that’s the real one!　How dare you deceive me!”

“....that dagger is the real....”

The holy sword of Water – Mistilteinn.

The Water of Glamour. After more than a hundred years, the holy sword that controls the mists of dreams has made its appearance on earth.